Meath 0-18 Carlow 0-12

Meath, fielding an experimental side, moved closer to a semi-final spot in the O'Byrne Cup when stumbling their way to a hard-earned victory over the students from Carlow at Páirc Tailteann last night.

After putting four goals past DIT at the same venue three days earlier, Mick O’Dowd reshuffled the Royals’ pack and the forwards picked off some neat points in the first half.

With seven of their players getting on target, Meath went 0-10 to 0-4 clear before three late scores from the Carlow outfit left the board reading 0-10 to 0-7 at the break.

The students maintained their improved performance on the restart with a Darragh White point getting the deficit down to the minimum 12 minutes into the second period.

However, Meath regained the initiative in the closing stages with newcomer Brian Lenihan impressing with a contribution of four points in the second period as the Royals pulled clear to win.

MEATH: C McHugh; C Young, S Curran, D McQuillan; S Kenny, B Power, P Gilsenan (0-1); C Sheridan (0-1), S O'Rourke (0-2); C O'Sullivan (0-3, 1 free), D McDonagh (0-1), P McKeever; D Bray (0-2), S Bray (0-2), D Lenihan (0-4, 2 frees). Subs: M Burke (0-1) for Young, E Harrington for Curran, D Larkin for S Bray (all half-time), G Reilly (0-1) for McKeever (48 mins), D Dalton for Kenny (61 mins), D Tobin for Sheridan (64 mins).
IT CARLOW: R Sansom; A Nolan, C Lawlor, P Crowley; E Lynch, M Mangan, K McGrath; B Kinahan, D White (0-2); E Walsh, C Reynolds, B Hurley (0-5, 2 frees); L Boland (0-3, 3 frees), T Durnin (0-1), K Mulvany (0-1). Subs: T Shiel for McGrath, J King for Lawlor (both 24 mins), J Dillon for Boland (59 mins), S Carty for Lynch, N Kane for Kinahan (both 66 mins), M Gunning for Reynolds (68 mins).
Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).